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Michael Gove asked to name the 'millions of people' suffering as a result of the EU, can name only one

Michael Gove asked to name the 'millions of people' suffering as a result of the EU, can name only one

Michael Gove spent a fairly uneventful hour on Sky News on Friday night talking up the campaign to Leave the EU.

There were no sarky English literature students or particularly piercing questions from Sky's political editor Faisal Islam that caught him unawares.

But while "The Gover", as Boris Johnson has inexplicably started calling him, performed strongly on the emotional reasons for leaving, it's fair to say he was a bit light on the facts and figures.

One moment that particularly highlighted this was when he was asked by Islam why there were so few economists backing Leave.

Gove:

People in this country have had enough of experts, enough of organisations with acronyms saying they know what is best… The majority of the people in this country are suffering as a result of the European Union.

After saying that people don't like experts (yes, really), accusing Islam of being an Establishment stooge and talking about Thatcher, Gove was pressed on the nitty gritty.

As Islam asked him to name some of the 30 million or so people (i.e. over half of the population) suffering , Gove hesitated.

Here's how the exchange played out...

Islam:

What’s your factual basis for that? You complain about the other side’s figures, what’s your factual basis to say the majority of people n this country are suffering from EU membership?

Gove then pointed round to the audience as a brief smattering of applause rose up, before saying:

I know myself, from my own background. I know that the European Union depresses employment and destroys jobs.

Islam:

We haven’t got a majority…?

Gove:

My father had a fishing business in Aberdeen destroyed by the European Union and the Common Fisheries policy...

Islam:

That’s one person...

Gove:

More: David Cameron tries to stall on a question from a student. Instantly regrets it

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